1) What changes on the 2026 NASCAR schedules stand out the most?
Christopher Hansen: Ever since it was announced a couple months ago, having all three NASCAR national series racing at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego is the biggest addition to the 2026 schedules. Never before has NASCAR raced on an active military base, and the new addition alone has had people buzzing since it was announced. After being host of the NASCAR Cup Series’ All-Star Race since 2023, North Wilkesboro Speedway will have its first points-paying Cup race since 1996, something many will be excited to see. Homestead-Miami Speedway returning as host of championship weekend was something asked for repeatedly over the last few seasons, and with so many NASCAR champions being crowned at the 1.5-mile speedway, the nostalgia will be palpable that entire weekend. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing on the Streets of St. Petersburg is another interesting addition to the schedule, giving Truck drivers an early test a few months before racing at San Diego.
Mike Neff: The All-Star Race moving to Dover Motor Speedway is a big one. The logic just doesn’t work. Dover doesn’t have lights, so it will be a daytime race. The concrete track needs a lot of rubber to make it multi-groove. The short-segment nature of the All-Star Race simply won’t result in rubber widening the groove. NASCAR needs to put the race back at Charlotte Motor Speedway and stop moving it. The return to Chicagoland Speedway is great. The abundance of road courses is too much.
Andrew Stoddard: There are two 2026 schedule adjustments that leap off the page, one in a good way and another in a bad way. The change I like is the Truck Series going to St. Petersburg. Between Corey Heim’s dominance and the bland broadcasts of FOX, the Truck Series is in need of a shakeup, and a race at a street course alongside the NTT IndyCar Series certainly stands out. The wrinkle in the 2026 schedule is the All-Star Race at Dover. The night atmosphere has been an integral part of the identity of the race for over three decades, going back to One Hot Night in the 1992 edition at Charlotte. The choice to move the race to a track without lights, even if it may be just for one season, makes no sense. The All-Star Race has lost its luster over the past few years, and this decision only makes it worse.
2) Which three-car Cup team without a playoff driver has the better chance of winning Daytona International Speedway: RFK Racing or Spire Motorsports?
Neff: RFK Racing and its Ford power plants have been looking stronger as the year has gone on. Spire simply hasn’t had consistency at the front of the field. Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski have shown great skill on superspeedways. Ryan Preece has shown skill if he can keep it on all four wheels. RFK needs a win desperately, and this is the weekend for it.
Stoddard: Give the edge to Spire on this one. Its driver lineup includes not one but two previous Daytona Cup winners; Michael McDowell was the 2021 Daytona 500 champion and Justin Haley won the 2019 summer race as well as two NASCAR Xfinity Series events at the World Center of Racing. Carson Hocevar lacks a Daytona checkered flag on his resume, but his aggressive style of driving could help Spire make the move to push one of its drivers to the playoffs.
Hansen: RFK. Both Keselowski and Buescher are former winners of the summer Daytona race, with Keselowski winning in 2016 and Buescher taking the checkered flag in 2023. Preece has also run well at superspeedways in past years (minus his several flips on the Daytona backstretch). However, Spire won’t make it easy on the RFK Fords, boasting 2021 Daytona 500 winner McDowell, former Daytona summer race winner Haley and Hocevar, who nearly captured his first career Cup win at EchoPark Speedway in February before a crash ended his chance to make a move on winner Christopher Bell. Between these two organizations, any one of their six drivers could end up in victory lane and lock in a playoff spot.
3) Will Corey Heim (seven wins) break Greg Biffle’s all-time Truck Series single season wins record (nine)?
Stoddard: It is possible. I would even call it probable. Heim has two victories across the seven racetracks in the Truck playoffs, winning at Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway in 2023. Also, Heim’s dominance this season has been historic. His 1,125 laps led with seven races to spare towers over the 529 Greg Biffle led during his nine-win season in 1999. With the versatility Heim has shown across all types of tracks, he seems destined to hit the double-digit win mark and add another line to his long list of Truck records set in 2025.
Neff: It certainly seems like that will happen. Heim has won three of the last four races. He’s led every race this season. He’s won at every type of track. Winning three more races shouldn’t be very far from his reach.
Hansen: Heim could’ve surpassed Biffle’s nine-race win total earlier this season had a few races played out in his favor. In this season’s playoffs, Heim has a good chance to surpass Biffle’s mark, with the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL being the lone road course among the final seven races, which Heim seems to be a lock for victory lane given his incredible dominance on road courses in 2025. Additionally, tracks like Darlington Raceway, Bristol and Martinsville are all tracks where Heim can compete for the win. With how dominant this season alone has been for Heim and his team, there’s no reason to believe that he will have the record for single-season wins before 2025 ends.
4) Where does Matt Crafton rank on the list of all-time greats in Truck history?
Neff: Matt Crafton is on the fringe of the top five. Kyle Busch is at the top, even without a title. That title is coming. Ron Hornaday Jr. Is number two with his four titles. Jack Sprague has three titles and is tied for third on the wins list. Todd Bodine is fourth with two titles and sixth in wins. Johnny Sauter is fifth in wins, has a title and finished top five in points eight out of nine years in a row. Crafton is 11th in wins and has three titles, so he’s right there.
Stoddard: I put Crafton somewhere in the back half of the top 10 on the list of Truck greats. Crafton’s three championships ties him with Sprague for second on the all-time list, trailing only Hornaday’s four Truck titles. On the other hand, his Truck win total of 15 ranks him 11th on the all-time list. Considering his lengthy Truck career of 25 full-time seasons, one could argue that Crafton’s win total is actually a little underwhelming. Of those 25 full seasons, Crafton went winless in 17 of them, including his final championship campaign in 2019. Make no mistake: Crafton belongs on the list of Truck all-timers, but he is not at the top of the conversation.
Hansen: Crafton is bound to be a first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Fame member when he’s added to the list of drivers to choose from. Despite only winning 15 races to this point in his career, Crafton has been a mainstay in the Truck Series for a long time, similar to Justin Allgaier in the Xfinity Series. While he doesn’t have the number of wins to go head-to-head with Hornaday, Mike Skinner and Sprague, Crafton has carved out his own space in the Truck record books.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.